Assignment  in  Drawing 


1901-1902 


CLEVELAND   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


1901 

THE    BFITTON    PRINTING   CO. 
CLEVELAND,    OHIO. 


DRAWING  ASSIGNMENT  190J-2. 

Precise  inquiry  into  the  constitution  and  function  of  drawing- 
shows  it  to  be  the  simplest  of  all  written  languages.  In  fact,  it  is 
so  simple,  mastery  of  drawings  necessitates  the  learning  of  so  few 
things  and  these  few  things  are  so  easy  of  comprehension  and  so 
quickly  learned  when  properly  presented,  that  it  would  be  as  uni- 
versally self  taught  as  seeing,  hearing,  walking-  and  talking  are 
self  taught  except  that  the  human  propensity  to  guess,  to  as- 
sume from  appearances,  and  to  take  things  for  granted,  prevents 
inquiry.  The  making  of  a  drawing  is  only  the  making  of  lines  on 
a  flat  surface;  or,  to  state  it  more  precisely,  drawing  is  nothing  but 
the  location  of  points  on  a  flat  surface  just  as  they  are  seen  on  an- 
other flat  surface,  and  learning  to  draw  is  simply  coming  to  a 
practical  realization  of  this  fact.  This  is  as  true  of  object  draw- 
ing as  it  is  of  copying  from  the  flat,  as  will  be  shown;  hence  it  fol- 
lows that  the  teaching  of  drawing  is  only  a  rectification  of  the 
point  of  view  and  a  correction  of  the  method  of  procedure  in 
drawing. 

The  precise  nature  of  drawing  is  not  to  be  mistaken  when 
nothing  is  taken  for  granted  and  only  clearly  unmistakable  facts 
are  accepted;  and  when  the  precise  nature  of  drawing  is  under- 
stood, effort  to  draw  cannot  be  misdirected;  in  which  case  rapid 
improvement  in  execution  and  the  prompt  acquisition  of  skill  is 
not  only  certain,  but  it  cannot  be  avoided.  The  result  is  no  less 
sure  than  that  day  shall  follow  night. 

The  propensity  to  assume  from  appearances,  and  the  conse- 
quent failure  to  inquire,  constitues  the  only  obstacle  there  is  in 
the  way  of  learning  to  draw,  and  to  cause  a  reversal  of  this  con- 
dition, or  to  cause  inquiry  to  take  the  place  of  false  assumption  it 
is  only  necessary  to  make  the  advantage  of  inquiry  manifest  to  the 
pupil.  All  that  is  necessary  to  accomplish  this  is  familiarization. 
The  pupil  must  be  made  familiar  with  the  successful  achieve- 
ment of  others  as  displayed  in  the  works  of  the  great  masters  of 
art,  he  must  be  made  familiar  with  the  precise  nature  of  accuracy, 


2O65649 


and  he  must  be  made  familiar  with  the  fundamental  principles 
upon  which  accuracy  and  excellence  depend. 

Familiarity  with  the  works  of  great  masters  in  art,  so  essen- 
tial to  refinement  of  judgment,  breadth  of  view  and  catholicity  of 
spirit,  is  a  never  ending  growth,  and  for  this  reason  in  the  fol- 
lowing assignment  it  is  given  a  constantly  increasing  impor- 
tance, beginning  in  the  first  grade  and  continuing  to  the  highest. 

Accuracy  in  drawing  is  so  easily  secured,  and  the  process  by 
which  it  is  secured  is  so  exceedingly  simply,  so  comprehensible, 
so  capable  of  speedy  mastery,  and  so  essential  to  the  successful 
application  of  the  principle  of  design  that  in  the  following  as- 
signment, familiarity  with  it  is  made  the  principal  aim  of  in- 
struction in  the  first  three  grades  of  school. 

The  principles  of  design  as  explained  and  demonstrated  by 
Dr.  Denman  Waldo  Rose  of  Harvard  University  are  wonderfully 
simple  and  easy  to-be  understood;  but  since  the  most  successful 
study  of  these  principles  requires  at  least  some  comprehension 
of  the  nature  of  drawing,  as  their  application  necessitates 
some  .skill  in  its  use,  the  specific  attempt  to  develop  familiarity 
with  them  is  deferred  to  the  fourth  grade,  but  constitutes  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  instruction  in  each  succeeding  grade  from  that 
to  the  highest. 

The  method  of  developing  the  desired  familiarity  with  the 
work  of  great  masters  in  art  consists  in  placing  reproductions  of 
important  pictures,  or  photographs  of  important  buildings  and 
other  works  of  art  before  the  pupil  and  informally  discussing  the 
story  they  tell,  their  particular  merits,  the  phase  or  condition  of 
art  development  which  they  illustrate,  the  influences  that  contrib- 
uted to  the  determination  of  their  quality  or  character,  the  life, 
character  and  training  of  the  artists  who  produced  them,  etc.,  etc. 
(For  help  in  this  see  "Art  Topics,"  by  Charles  S.  Farrer,  79  Dear- 
born St.,  Chicago,  111. 

The  method  of  familiarizing  the  pupil  with  the  precise  nature 
of  accuracy  and  how  it  is  secured,  as  well  as  the  method  of  famil- 
iarizing the  pupil  with  the  precise  nature  of  excellence,  or  the 
principles  of  design  upon  the  application  of  which  excellence  de- 
pends, is  the  same.  It  consists  in  demonstrations  and  illustra- 
tions of  specific  requirements,  and  in  applications  of  principles  on 
the  black-board  by  the  teacher,  together  with  exercises  by  the 
pupil  in  meeting  requirements,  making  applications  or  proving 
principles  in  the  execution  of  drawings  according  to  specifica- 
tions. 


2 


DIVISION  OF  TIME. 


Second  Grade. 


Third  Grade. 


The  time  allowed  for  drawing  as  given  in  the  course  of  study 
will  be  divided  as  follows: 

First  Grade.  One-half  hour  per  week,  picture  study;  bal- 

ance of  time  familiarization  with  the  process 
of  reproducing-  quadruled  subjects. 
One-half  hour  per  week,  picture  study;  bal- 
ance of  time  familiarization  with  the  process 
of  object  drawing,  or  the  process  of  reproduc- 
ing ^  the  silhouette  shapes  of  objects  as  seen 
against  a  quadruled  background. 
One-half  hour  per  week,  picture  study;  bal- 
ance of  time  familiarization  with  the  process  of 
drawing,  or  with  the  process  and  the  advantage 
of  separately  determining  the  horizontal  and 
vertical  relations  of  points. 

Fourth  to  Eighth  Grade.  One-half  hour  per  week,  picture 
study;  balance  of  time  divided  between  famil- 
iarization with  the  principles  of  design  and  ex- 
ercises in  drawing  (see  third  grade)  with  a 
view  to  perfecting  the  skill  in  the  use  of  the 
process  of  accurate  execution. 

Below  will  be  found  a  statement  of  the  requirements  it  is  ex- 
pected the  pupils  in  each  grade  will  acquire  the  ability  to  meet, 
together  with  explanations  and  suggestions. 

In  order  to  secure  the  variety  of  work  necessary  to  the  main- 
tenance of  interest  and  spontaneity  there  will  be  the  usual  month- 
ly assignments  and  special  drawings. 

Regular  teachers'  meetings  at  which  the  work  assigned  for 
each  month  will  be  discussed  and  explained  will  be  held  in  room 
1 6  Rockwell  building,  as  follows: 

ist  Grade.     First  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  9:15. 
First  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  10:45. 
Second  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  9^15. 
4th  Grade.    Second  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  10:45. 
5th  Grade.    Third  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  9:15. 
6th  Grade.    Third  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  10:45. 
7th  Grade.    Fourth  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  9:15. 
8th  Grade.    Fourth  Saturday  in  each  school  month  at  10:45. 
All  candidates  for  positions  as  teachers  in  the   Cleveland. 
Public  Schools,  not  graduates  of  the  Cleveland  Normal  School. 


2d  Grade. 
3d  Grade. 


are  required  to  meet  regularly  every  Saturday  at  10  o'clock  for  in- 
struction in  drawing.  No  one  will  be  excused  from  attendance 
upon  these  meetings  or  will  be  given  an  appointment  as  a  teacher 
in  the  Cleveland  Public  Schools  until  the  drawing  master  is  sat- 
isfied that  the  candidate  is  master  of  the  process  of  accurate  draw- 
ing. (See  requirements  of  first  three  grades  below.) 

REQUIREMENTS. 

FIRST  GRADE. 

It  is  required  that  the  pupils  in  this  grade  shall  be  familiar 
with  the  pictures  studied,  and  so  familiar  with  the  process  of  re- 
producing quadruled  subjects  as  to  be  able,  on  quadruled  lines 
such  as  Fig.  I,  to  reproduce  any  figure  at  least  as  complicated 
as  Fig.  2,  and  do  it  intelligently,  promptly  and  accurately. 

The  capability  to  meet  this  requirement  depends  upon  three 
things,  as  follows: 

1st.  A  complete  familiarity  with  the  uses  of  the  squares 
formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  horizontal  and  vertical  lines 
and  the  signification  of  the  lettering  and  numbering  of  the  spaces 
between  these  lines. 

2nd.  A  complete  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  correspond- 
ing salient  points  should  be  in  squares  of  the  same  letter  and 
number  in  both  the  reproduction  and  the  subject  figure. 

3rd.     The  completest  practicable  appreciation  of  the  fact 


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Fig. 

4 


that  accuracy  requires  that  corresponding  salient  points  shall 
occupy  precisely  similar  positions  in  their  respective  squares. 
These  ends  are  to  be  gained  only  by  exercise,  and  they  are  to  be 
expeditiously  gained  only  by  good  engineering  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  consisting  in  the  employment  of  well  selected  and  inter- 
esting subject-matter,  the  proper  adaptation  of  suitable  methods 
of  procedure,  and  such  general  management  as  will  quicken  and 
maintain  the  most  healthful  desire  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  to 
meet  all  essential  requirements. 


Fig.    2. 


Method  of  developing  the  necessary  familiarity. — The  details  of 
the  process  calculated  to  forward  the  development  of 
familiarity  with  the  uses  of  the  squares  and  the  signification  of 
the  lettering  and  numbering  must  vary  with  the  age  and  stage 
of  development  of  the  pupil.  The  suggestions  here  made  are 
designed  to  meet  the  requirements  in  cases  where  the  pupils  do 
not  know  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  and  cannot  read  the  num- 
bers, and  they  are  subject  to  any  change  that  the  conditions  may 
require. 

The  teacher  prepares  for  the  lesson  by  making  two  sets  of 
three  inch  squares  on  the  blackboard,  lettering  and  numbering 
them  as  in  Fig.  i,  and  by  drawing  a  subject  figure  on  one  of  these 
sets  of  squares  as  in  Fig.  2.  The  problem  is  to  reproduce  Fig. 
2  on  Fig.  i,  the  teacher  doing  the  work  and  the  pupils  helping 
her,  she  aiding  them  in  this  by  such  promptings  as  may  be 


needed  to  prevent  dragging  and  delay.  For  example,  the  teacher 
asks,  "What  point  in  the  figure  shall  I  locate  first?"  and  then 
calls  upon  some  individual  to  answer.  The  pupil  called  upon  is 
helped  in  all  kindly  ways  to  tell  or  to  point  to  the  part  of  Fig. 
2  that  he  would  have  first  located  in  the  reproduction,  as,  per- 
haps, a.  This  being  promptly  settled  the  teacher  asks,  "In  what 
letter  in  Fig.  2  is  the  point  (a)  that  we  are  going  to  place  ?"  and 
calls  upon  some  individual  pupil  to  answer,  giving  him  all  kindly 
assistance,  promptly  getting  him  to  point  to  the  letter  or  to 
name  the  letter  or  promptly  pointing  to  the  letter  for  him  or  tell- 
ing the  name  of  the  letter  for  him,  bearing  in  mind  that  familiar- 
ity not  dexterity  is  the  immediate  end  sought.  When  the  letter 
that  the  given  point  in  Fig.  2  is  in  has  been  named  or  pointed 
out,  by  some  one,  with  or  without  the  aid  of  the  teacher,  the 
next  question  is,  "In  what  letter  in  the  prepared  set  of  lines  shall 
we  place  it?"  Proceed  as  before  and  when  the  letter  has  been 
pointed  out  or  named  it  should  be  noted  in  some  way  so  as  not 
to  need  re-location,  as  shown  in  the  margin  of  Fig.  3. 


B 


C 


D 


f 


3 


7 


Fig.   3. 


In  the  same  way  the  number  in  Fig.  2  in  which;  the  given 
point  (a)  is  should  be  pointed  out  or  named,  the  number  in  Fig. 
3  in  which  it  should  be  placed,  should  be  pointed  out  and  named, 
and  a  note  made  of  it  in  the  margin. 

This  done,  the  given  point  in  Fig.  2  is  located  in  its  proper 
square  in  Fig.  3  by  the  teacher.  Repeat  this  process  for  six  to 
eight  points  in  the  subject  figure,  proceeding  promptly.  These 


six  or  eight  points,  when  located  as  in  Fig.  3,  are  disconnected 
and  constitute  a  more  or  less  rough  plan  requiring  connection 
and  the  supply  of  the  lines  necessary  to  complete  the  reproduc- 
tion. This  completion  of  the  reproduction,  or  the  change  of  the 
plan  into  a  drawing,  the  teacher  executes  while  the  pupils  look 
on. 

Erase  this  drawing  and  repeat  the  entire  process,  but  no 
repetition  should  ever  begin  with  the  location  of  the  same 
point  as  any  preceding  reproduction  of  the  same  subject,  and 
nothing  should  be  allowed  to  drag.  Reproduce  Fig.  2  three 
times  as  described  above  and  then  let  the  pupils  try  to  reproduce 
it  on  ruled  paper  or  on  ruled  squares  scratched  on  their  slates, 
and  while  they  do  this  the  teacher  should  pass  among  them  com- 
mending, suggesting  or  criticising  as  seems  best  in  the  individ- 
ual cases. 

When  any  figure  has  served  as  the  subject  and  been  repro- 
duced three  times  on  the  blackboard  by  the  teacher  under  the 
direction  of  the  pupils,  and  once  by  the  pupils  themselves  under 
the  oversight  of  the  teacher,  as  described  above,  it  should  be 
laid  aside  indefinitely.  A  new  figure  should  be  then  taken  as 
the  subject,  and  the  process  described  above  should  be  repeated. 

A  few  available  subjects  will  be  found  on  plates  I  to  VI,  and 
these  will  suggest  many  others  and  the  sources  from  which  others 
may  be  obtained. 

The  method  of  developing  a  complete  appreciation  of  the  fact 
that  at  least  salient  points  in  the  reproduction  and  in  the  subject 
figure  should  be  located  in  squares  of  the  same  letter  and  number,  is 
simply  a  matter  of  copying  by  separately  determining  the  co- 
ordinates of  salient  points  as  a  preliminary  to  drawing.  The  proc- 
ess of  familiarizing  the  pupil  with  the  method  consists  in  pro- 
viding good  and  interesting  quadruled  subjects  and  requiring  ac- 
curacy in  their  reproduction  to  the  degree  that  salient  points 
shall  be  in  their  respective  squares. 

The  method  by  which  the  completest  practicable  appreciation  of 
the  fact  that  accuracy  requires  corresponding  points  to  be  located 
in  precisely  similar  parts  of  their  respective  squares  is  also  a  matter 
of  copying  with  insistence  upon  precision.  This  requires  sim- 
ply the  complete  understanding  and  application  of  the  proc- 
ess described  above,  which  can  be  brought  about  only  in  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  of  delightful,  healthful  practice  and  exer- 
cise of  this  kind  that  is  afforded  the  pupil. 


Plate  I. 


Plate  II. 


Plate  III. 


Plate  IV. 


Plate  V. 


Plate  VI. 


SECOND  GRADE. 

In  this  grade  it  is  required,  as  a  result  of  the  year's  work, 
that  the  pupil  shall  be  familiar  with  the  pictures  studied,  and  so 
familiar  with  the  process  of  object  drawing  that  his  work  shows 
a  full  understanding  of  the  purpose  and  helpfulness  of  the  back- 
ground screen  and  that  he  uniformly  uses  it  with  as  great  ac- 
curacy as  ought  to  be  expected  of  a  child  of  his  age. 

The  obstacle  to  be  overcome. — The  obstacle  that  stands  in  the 
way  of  expeditious  and  effective  instruction  in  object  drawing- 
is  the  preconceived  idea  that  the  picture  or  the  drawing  of  an 
object  must  be  in  some  way  a  duplicate  of  the  object  which  it 
represents.  That  this  is  the  fact  is  attested  by  the  insistence 
and  persistence  with  which  all  beginners  in  drawing  try  to  repre- 
sent square  corners  in  the  subject  by  right  angles  in  the  drawing. 
To  see  that  this  is  a  mistake  it  is  only  necessary  to  look  out  of 
the  window,  observe  precisely  what  is  seen,  and  understand  what 
can  and  what  can  not  be  done  with  what  is  seen.  Doing  this  it 
is  made  clear  that  objects  are  seen,  and  they  are  seen  either  of 
two  ways,  but  never  both  ways  at  the  same  instant.  For  exam- 
ple, sky,  hills,  buildings,  people,  the  details  of  buildings,  the 
features  of  people,  etc.,  are  within  the  field  of  vision,  but  how 
are  they  seen?  They  are  seen  in  their  real  and  solid  shapes,  or 
they  are  seen  in  the  shapes  of  their  silhouettes  against  and  over- 
lapping one  another;  and  in  which  of  these  shapes  they  are  seen 
depends  upon  whether  the  objects  themselves  are  looked  at  and 
their  solidities  are  considered,  or  whether  they  are  looked  by 
and  beyond,  and  the  shapes  of  their  silhouettes  are  considered. 
A  drawing  of  objects  is  the  reproduction  of  the  forms  of  their 
silhouettes,  because  its  surface  or  two-dimension  nature  does  not 
admit  of  its  being  anything  else,  and  any  other  understanding 
of  what  a  drawing  is  constitutes  the  obstacle  that  instruction  in 
object  drawing  must  remove.  The  removal  of  this  obstacle  is 
accomplished  when  the  pupil  has  been  brought  to  realize  that 
in  object  drawing  he  must  look  at  the  background  against  which 
the  object  is  seen,  and  observe  and  copy  the  forms  of -the 
silhouettes  of  the  things  seen,  taking  no  note  of  the  actual,  solid 
forms  of  those  things;  but  to  accomplish  this,  in  the  majority  of 
cases,  requires  the  use  of  special  aids  and  appliances. 

Aids  and  appliances. — What  is  required  is  to  induce  the  pupil 
in  drawing  to  look  for- and  to  reproduce  the  forms  of  the  sil- 
houettes of  things.  These  silhouette  forms  are  to  be  found  only 
in  the  background,  and,  therefore,  to  make  an  object  drawing 

'4 


requires  looking  at  the  background  to  find  them.  To  most 
easily  and  effectively  induce  the  pupil  to  do  this  an  artificial  back- 
ground particularly  adapted  to  the  finding  and  identifying  of  these 
silhouettes  is  essential.  The  best  background  for  this  purpose 
is  made  of  green  cloth  six  feet  wide  and  four  feet  high,  quad- 
ruled  into  five  inch  squares  by  vertical  and  horizontal  lines  in 
white  (with  consecutive  numbers  between  the  vertical  lines  at 
the  top,  and  letters  at  the  sides,  between  the  horizontal  lines) 
curved  into  an  upright  cylindrical  surface  three  feet  in  radius 
and  suspended  from  the  front  wall  opposite  the  middle  aisle  at 
such  a  height  that  the  bottom  is  three  feet  from  the  floor.  (Fig. 
4-) 


The  most  potent  agent  in  the  development  of  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  requirements  of  object  drawing  is  foreshortening. 
Because  of  the  tenacity  with  which  most  minds  cling  to  pre- 
conceived ideas,  particularly  if  those  ideas  seem  to  be  well 


founded,  to  bring-  the  average  mind  to  the  right  point  of  view  in 
object  drawing  it  is  necessary  to  give  it  a  shock.  It  is  necessary 
to  startle  it  into  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  drawing  is  not  the 
reproducion  of  the  actual  form  of  things  by  presenting  cases 
showing  the  utmost  possible  difference  between  the  actual  three- 
dimension  forms  of  things  themselves  and  the  two-dimension 
forms  by  which  they  would  be  represented  in  drawing.  That  is 
accomplished  by'  submitting  subjects  placed  before  the  back- 
ground screen  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  greatly  foreshortened,  as  for 
example,  a  boy  lying  on  his  back  with  his  feet  turned  toward  the 
school,  a  table  with  its  top  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  eye  of  the 
pupils  and  a  small  object,  as  an  ink  well,  on  its  nearer  edge,  etc., 
etc.  Such  subjects  placed  before  the  background  screen  are 
self-convincing.  The  pupils  very  quickly  learn  to  enjoy  the  sur- 
prises of  foreshortening,  and  quickly  acquire  skill  in  representing 
it.  It  is  by  shocks,  and  in  the  case  of  the  average  pupil  it  is  only 
by  shocks,  that  the  obstacle  to  the  development  of  real  skill  in 
practical  drawing  can  be  effectively  accomplished. 

Method. — Hang  the  background  screen  straight  and  smooth, 
t^lace  a  group  of  objects,  as  the  subject,  on  the  model  stand  in 
the  axis  of  the  screen  (with  its  centre  three  feet  from  the  screen) 
so  as  to  present  the  maximum  of  foreshortening.  By  way  of  ex- 
planation it  may  be  said  that  the  background  screen  is  curved 
into  a  vertical  cylindrical  form  and  the  subject  to  be  drawn  is 
placed  in  its  axis  in  order  to  provide  each  pupil  with  a  back- 
ground screen  that  is  perpendicular  to  his  line  of  sight  and  af- 
ford him  a  means  of  executing  an  undistorted  drawing.  Expe- 
rience has  proved  that  by  the  use  of  such  a  screen  in  the  drawing 
of  foreshortened  subjects  the  pupil  speedily  comes  to  realize 
what  practical  object  drawing  is,  and  what  it  requires;  and  it 
has  been  found  that  in  the  degree  that  skill  has  been  developed 
in  its  use,  a  change  of  conditions,  or  even  the  removal  of  the 
background  screen  makes  no  difference.  By  the  use  of  the 
screen  the  pupil  learns  his  dependence  upon  the  background  and 
'he  removal  of  the  artificial  background  only  prompts  him  to 
use  the  natural  background  in  a  similar  way.  Let  the  pupil  be 
provided  with  paper  that  is  quadruled  into  half  inch  squares. 

No  two  pupils,  from  their  seats,  will  see  the  model  projected 
against  the  same  part  of  the  background  screen;  that  is,  they 
will  not  see  it  against  vertical  columns  on  the  screen  of  the  same 
numbers,  and  for  this  reason  the  first  thing  for  the  pupil  to  do  is 
to  observe  the  numbers  of  the  columns  against  which  he  sees  the 

16 


model  and  to  number  the  middle  columns  on  his  paper  accord- 
ingly. 

This  done  instruct  the  class  to  show  on  their  papers  in  what 
squares  they  see  the  silhouettes  of  what  they  regard  as  the  salient 
points  of  the  model.  Doing  this  is  making  a  plan  for  a  draw- 
ing; it  is  not  making  a  drawing.  While  this  is  going  on  the 
teacher  should  pass  among  the  pupils  commending,  suggesting 
or  criticising  as  seems  best  in  the  individual  cases. 

When  the  plan  has  been  made,  let  it  be  converted  into  a 
drawing  by  the  connection  of  the  different  parts.  In  this  last  a 
good  deal  of  liberty  should  be  given  the  pupil.  Vary  the  subject- 
matter  as  much  as  possible,  using  geometrical  solids,  vase  forms, 
draperies,  the  human  figure,  etc.  Repetition  can  be  very  easily 
overdone,  but  if  the  teacher  realizes  that  familiarization  with  the 
process  is  all  that  is  sought,  and  that  the  production  of  drawings 
is  merely  an  incident,  there  will  be  little  danger  from  this  source, 
because  the  temptation  to  repeat  with  a  view  to  getting  better 
immediate  productions  will  be  almost  if  not  wholly  removed. 

THIRD  GRADE. 

In  this  grade  it  is  required  as  a  result  of  the  year's  work, 
that  the  pupil  shall  be  familiar  with  the  pictures  studied;  and  so 
familiar  with  the  process  and  advantage  of  separately  determin- 
ing the  horizontal  and  vertical  relations  of  points  that  he  habit- 
ually does  so  with  as  great  accuracy  as  ought  to  be  expected  of 
a  child  of  his  age ;  and  that  the  drawing  book  of  each  pupil  shall 
be  reasonably  full  of  drawings  demonstrating  his  familiarity  with 
the  process  of  drawing,  both  from  the  object  as  well  as  the  flat 
copy.  f 

'The  work  of  the  third  grade  consists  in  the  developmental 
an  increasingly  complete  consciousness  of  the  fact  that  no  point 
in  a  drawing  can  have  more  than  two  relations  to  any  other 
point  in  the  same  drawing,  that  these  relations  may  be  horizontal 
and  vertical,  and  that  effective  drawing  may  be  insured  by  the 
definite,  precise  and  separate  determination  of  the  horizontal 
and  vertical  relations  of  the  salient  points  in  a  drawing  before 
the  execution  of  that  drawing  is  undertaken. 

The  obstacle  to  be  overcome.— The  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
good  drawing  is  the  propensity  to  guess  rather  than  to  take  the 
time  and  trouble  to  definitely  determine  precisely  what  is  to  be 
done  before  proceeding  to  do  it;  and  the  removal  of  this  the  only 

17 


real  obstacle  to  good  drawing,  or  the  method  qf  bringing  about 
the  discontinuance  of  guessing  in  drawing,  consists  in  dem- 
onstrations of  its  disadvantages  that  are  satisfactory  and  sufficient 
to  the  pupil. 

The  teaching  of  drawing  is  one  form  of  trade  or  exchange 
between  the  teacher  and  the  pupil.  The  teacher  wishes  to  dis- 
pose or  to  sell  to  the  pupil  a  certain  desirable  something  and  this 
he  will  succeed  in  doing  in  the  degree  that  he  brings  the  pupil 
(the  buyer)  to  see  that  the  thing  he  is  asked  to  buy  is  desirable 
and  that  the  price  is  low.  He  must  convince  the  pupils  that 
the  possession  of  the  proposed  object  of  exchange  involves  an 
expenditure  of  time,  effort  and  material  that  is  of  less  value  to 
him  than  that  which  he  gets  in  exchange  for  it. 

The  thing  which  the  teacher  of  drawing  wishes  the  pupil  to 
buy  is  skill,  which  is  simply  habitual  and  definite  predetermina- 
tion of  the  two  relations  of  the  points  in?  his  drawing  before  he 
proceeds  to  execute  that  drawing.  This  .skill  is  a  desirable  pos- 
session. There  is  no  one  anywhere  who  would  not  be  glad  to 
possess  it  or  who  would  not  be  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to 
buy  and  to  pay  for  it.  There  is  but  one  question  and  that  is: 
What  is  the  price?  The  price  of  skill  in  drawing  is  low.  It  is 
lower  than  the  price  of  any  other  human  acquisition  of  anything 
like  equal  value.  To  bring  the  pupil  to  realize  this  and  to  know 
how  very  little  the  possession  of  skill  will  cost  him  is  to  insure 
that  he  will  learn.  To  do  otherwise  is  to  insure  that  he  will  not 
learn  willingly  and  to  make  it  highly  probable  that  he  will  not 
learn  at  all. 

With  regard  to  drawing  there  are  two  practically  universal 
mistakes  and  both  are  due  to  the  same  cause:  to  assuming  from 
appearances.  One  of  these  mistakes  is  that  the  price  of  skill 
varies  with  the  individual,  and  the  other  is  that  all  people  try  to 
buy  skill  with  the  same  thing.  This  is  exactly  the  reverse  of  the 
truth  and  to  realize  that  there  are  no  two  prices  for  the  same  de- 
gree of  skill  but  that  there 'is  an  infinitely  variable  medium  of 
exchange  it  is  only  necessary  to  realize  how  many  mediums  of 
exchange  are  ever  tried,  how  many  have  any  purchasing  power, 
and  how,  by  adulteration,  the  one  real  medium  of  exchange  be- 
comes an  infinite  number  of  mediums  with  different  purchasing 
powers. 

Thinking  of  these  matters  it  is  clear  that  the  guess  and  the 
judgment  are  the  only  mediums  of  exchange  that  are  ever  tried 
in  the  purchase  of  skill;  that  the  guess  has  no  purchasing  power 
whatever;  that,  consequently,  there  is  but  one  medium  of  ex- 


change,  which  is  judgment;  but  that  as  judgment  is  more  or 
adulterated  with  guess,  and  that  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
adulteration  the  purchasing  power  of  judgment  changes  and 
practically  comes  to  have  variable  powers. 

Judgment  in  the  same  degree  of  purity  and  in  equal  quantity 
buys  exactly  the  same  amount  and  degree  of  skill  regardless  of 
the  individual,  and  what  is  required  of  instruction  is  that  it  shall 
make  this  fact  clear  to  the  child.  In  the  degree  that  instruction 
fails  to  do  this  it  fails  in  what  is  most  essential.  What  is  re- 
quired in  the  instruction  in  drawing  in  the  third  grade  is  that 
the  facts  regarding  the  attainment  of  skill  in  drawing  and  the  ex- 
tremely low  price  for  which  masterly  skill  may  be  procured  shall 
be  made  as  clear  as  practicable. 

METHOD. 

The  method  by  which  it  is  practicable  to  bring  the  pupil  to 
realize  the  great  purchasing  power  of  judgment  and  the  idleness 
of  guessing,  is  partly  demonstration  and  illustration  by  the, 
teacher,  and  partly  exercise  by  the  pupil,  as  follows: 

Demonstration. — Let  the  subject  be  any  good  print,  as  Fig. 
5,  and  let  each  pupil  be  provided  with  a  copy.  The  teacher  might 
begin  by  snying,  "I  am  going  to  make  a  plan  for  a  drawing  of 
this  picture  by  Bartolommeo  called  'Angel  Blowing  a  Trumpet.' 
This  is  the  space  on  the  blackboard  in  which  I  am  going  to  do 
it,"  and  immediately  on  making  this  announcement  he  encloses 
the  space  on  the  blackboard  in  which  he  proposes  to  make  the 
plan,  saying:  "This  is  my  paper."  "I  will  begin  by  locating 
point  A.  I  choose  this  point  as  the  first  one  to  locate  because 
it  is  nearest  the  middle  of  the  whole  figure  and  there  is,  there- 
fore, less  chance  that  I  shall  misjudge  in  locating  it.  I 
judge  that  it  is  a  little  below  the  middle  of  the  height  of  the 
figure.  I  will  make  a  mark  at  a  about  how  high  I  think  it  should 
be."  (Fig.  6.)  Having  made  the  mark  a,  the  teacher  meas- 
ures the  subject  and  then  measures  the  plan  with  a  view  to  dis- 
covering any  mistake  that  may  have  been  made.  This  consti- 
tutes the  whole  process;  to  judge  one  relation  and  to  indicate 
the  conclusion  by  marks,  and  then  to  measure  and  test  with  a 
view  to  discovering  any  error  of  judgment. 

"I  judge  that  A  is  nearer  to  the  extreme  left  point  of  the 
subject  than  it  is  to  the  extreme  right.  I  will  make  a  vertical 
mark  a'  where  I  judge  it  should  be."  The  teacher  measures  the 
subject  and  then  the  plan  to  discover  any  mistake.  "I  have  now 

19 


Fig.  6. 


located  one  point  of  the  plan  I  am  making.  What  has  it  cost  me? 
What  was  the  price  of  the  mark  a  ?  It  was  one  thought.  Wrhat 
did  I  pay  that  thought  with?  I  paid  it  with  a  judgment,  and 
judgment  will  buy  more  than  anything  else.  It  will  buy  gold, 
but  gold  cannot  buy  it.  In  the  same  way  I  bought  a'.  The 
price  was  one  thought  which  I  paid  with  a  judgment.  If  the 
price  of  a  was  one  thought  and  the  price  of  a'  was  one  thought 
and  I  paid  for  each  with  one  judgment,  what  was  the  price  of 
the  point  A  ?  It  was  two  thoughts  and  I  paid  the  price  with 
two  judgments.  It  was  cheaply  bought  because  I  gave  a 
little  and  I  got  a  good  deal.  If  I  had  tried  to  buy  it  with  a  guess 
I  should  have  tried  to  buy  it  with  something  that  cannot  buy  any- 
thing and  I  should  have  been  obliged  to  buy  it  again;  that  is, 
with  a  guess  I  should  not  have  received  anything  in  exchange  for 
my  thought,  my  time  or  my  labor,  for  since  one  cannot  guess 
without  thinking,  in  guessing  one  pays  the  price  but  gets 
nothing  in  return. 

"Two  thoughts  is  the  price  of  every  point  in  every  picture 
or  drawing.  Pay  for  those  points  with  judgment  and  you  get 
something  easily  and  cheaply.  Pay  for  them  in  anything  else 
and  they  will  not  be  yours  because  you  pay  with  something 
which  has  no  value  and  no  purchasing  power. 

"Xow  I  will  locate  the  point  B.  I  judge  that  B  is  on  the 
same  vertical  line  with  A,  and  I  will  see  if  I  am  right."  To  do 
this  the  teacher  lays  a  ruler  on  the  subject  so  that  its  edge  passes 
through  both  A  and  B,  and  this  done  he  looks  to  see  if  it  stands 
vertical  or  leans  perceptibly  to  one  side.  "I  think  that  is  right, 
I  will  extend  a'  down  to  b\  Now  how  far  shall  I  put  B  from  A  ? 
Is  the  length  of  the  thigh  more  or  less  than  half  the  height  of  the 
figure  from  A  to  the  level  of  the  toes  of  the  right  foot?  It  is 
more.  So  I  might  locate  B  below  the  middle  of  the  distance  be- 
tween A  and  the  lowest  point  of  my  space  on  the  board;  but  I 
want  a  little  margin.  I  want  the  drawing  to  be  a  little  smaller 
than  the  space  in  which  I  make  it  so  I  will  locate  B  slightly 
above  the  middle  between  A  and  the  bottom  of  my  space  and 
draw  the  mark  b  to  show  where  I  mean  it  to  be.  That  will  make 
it  certain  that  the  toe  of  the  right  foot  will  be  above  the  bottom 
edge  of  the  space.  The  price  of  this  point  B  was  two  thoughts 
which  I  paid  with  two  judgments,  and  I  paid  the  judgments 
before  I  measured  because  in  this  way  my  judgment  gets  exer- 
cise and  grows,  while  if  I  measured  first  my  judgment  can  get 
no  exercise  and  gain  no  strength.  I  will  next  locate  K.  Where 

21 


is  it  ?  Is  it  higher  than  B  ?  Is  it  lower  than  A  ?  Yes,  it  is  both. 
It  is  higher  than  B  and  lower  than  A.  It  comes  between  them. 
Whereabouts?  I  judge  that  the  sharp  point  at  the  left  knee  is 
nearer  the  level  of  B  than  it  is  to  the  level  of  A.  I  judge  that  K 
comes  about  opposite  the  poin£  I  will  mark  k.  Let  me  see  if  I 
am  right."  The  teacher  at  this  point,  with  the  aid  of  a  piece  of 
paper  or  something  else,  proceeds  to  take  such  measures  as  will 
expose  any  considerable  mistake,  acknowledges  the  mistake,  ii 
one  is  found,  and  makes  the  proper  correction.  This  done,  the 
teacher  proceeds  by  asking,  "How  far  is  K  from  the  line  joining 
A  and  5?  Is  the  distance  from  A  B  to  K  greater  or  less  than 
A  B?  I  judge  that  it  is  nearly  the  same.  I  will  indicate  the 
distance  that  I  judge  the  knee  should  be  with  a  mark  k'.  Now 
I  will  measure  and  see  if  I  am  right."  The  teacher  proceeds  to 
measure  and  corrects  any  error  that  he  may  find.  Proceeding 
in  this  manner  with  the  location  of  the  salient  points  is  demon- 
strating the  cheapness  of  skill  and  any  error  that  the  teacher  may 
expose  in  his  work  on  the  blackboard  will  contribute  to  making 
the  cheapness  and  the  economy  of  the  process  more  self-evident. 

In  this  way  several  things  will  be  demonstrated:  ist,  that  the 
distance  between  the  first  two  points  located  in  a  drawing  consti- 
tute the  pitch  of  that  drawing  to  which  all  other  relations  must 
conform;  2d,  that  the  only  way  to  successfully  make  any  drawing 
is  to  refer  everything  to  the  pitch,  and  3d,  that  skill  is  cheap  be- 
cause it  consists  in  doing  something  that  is  easily  .done  and 
requires  merely  the  repetition  of  the  same  process. 

When  the  teacher  has  illustrated  on  the  blackboard  how  to 
proceed  in  the  economic  and  effective  planning  of  the  drawing 
of  a  subject,  the  pupils  are  given  an  opportunity  to  make  a  plan 
for  a  drawing  of  the  same  subject,  taking  some  given  horizontal 
or  some  given  vertical  relation  between  two  given  points  as  the 
pitch,  as  for  example,  if  the  subject  was  Fig.  5,  the  pitch  might  be 
either  the  horizontal  relation  between  C  and  D,  or  the  vertical 
relation  between  A  and  D,  or  the  vertical  height  of  the  whole 
figure,  or  the  horizontal  width  of  the  entire  figure,  or  any  other 
vertical  or  horizontal  relation  of  the  figure. 

Making  many  plans  for  drawings  of  the  same  figure,  taking 
as  the  pitch  at  different  times  different  relations  between  different 
points,  is  an  excellent  thing  to  do  but  it  can  easily  be  over  done. 
There  must  be  variety,  and  making  many  plans  of  many  subjects 
is  better  than  making  too  many  plans  of  one  subject. 

Until  the  meaning  of  drawing  to  a  pitch  is  fully  understood 
by  the  class,  the  teacher  should  frequently  demonstrate  the  pro- 

23 


cess  before  the  school  by  making  a  plan  on  the  blackboard  first 
without  these  with  the  help  of  the  class. 

As  soon  as  the  pupils  have  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  learn 
the  process  of  drawing  and  have  become  at  least  somewhat  famil- 
iar with  the  method  of  finding  the  horizontal  and  vertical  rela- 
tions of  points,  they  should  have  3s  much  exercise  in  using  it  as 
practicable.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  assign  as  the  subject  any  inter^ 
esting  print,  specifying  the  exact  length  in  inches  or  parts  of  an 
inch  of  the  horizontal  or  vertical  relation  which  is  to  constitute 
the  pitch  of  the  drawing,  always  making  it  greater  or  less  than 
the  same  relation  in  the  subject,  and  specifying  four  salient  points 
which  the  pupil  is  to  locate  in  accordance  with  the  pitch.  When 
the  pitch  has  been  established  and  the  four  given  points  have 
been  located,  the  pupil,  as  his  reward,  should  be  allowed  to  go  on 
and  complete  his  drawing  of  the  subject  to  suit  himself.  By  this 
kind  of  practice  the  pupil  will  soon  be  able  to  complete  the  draw- 
ing of  quite  a  figure  in  fifteen  minutes,  and  if  while  this  work  is 
going  on  the  teacher  constitutes  himself  a  friendly  helper  the 
pupil  will  grow  to  mlore  and  more  appreciate  the  value  of  the 
process  and  become  more  and  more  expert  in  its  use. 

FOURTH  TO  EIGHTH  GRADES. 

In  these  grades  it  is  required  as  a  result  of  the  year's  work 
in  drawing  that  the  pupil  shall  be  familiar  with  the  pictures  he 
has  had  an  opportunity  to  study  in  the  particulars  previously 
mentioned;  and,  in  proportion  to  his  age,  and  the  opportunities 
he  has  had  for  exercise,  he  shall  be  familiar  with  the  process  of 
accurate  drawing  and  the  principles  of  design.  His  drawing 
book,  in  quantity  and  quality,  should  be  an  index  and  a  demon- 
stration of  his  independent  exercises  of  intelligence,  skill  and  cul- 
ture. 

In  the  work  of  the  grades  preceding  the  fourth,  the  pupil 
has  been  made  familiar  with  the  process  of  drawing  and  the  con- 
ditions upon  which  accuracy  in  drawing  can  be  secured.  He  is 
now  to  this  extent  prepared  to  begin  to  be  made  familiar  with 
the  principles  of  design. 

This  consists  in  developing  a  consciousness  of  the  fact  that  as 
nothing  else  is  altogether  worthy  except  in  the  degree  that  it  is 
excellent,  and  that  as  nothing  is  excellent  except  in  the  degree 
that  it  has  rhythm  or  movement,  balance  or  repose,  and  har- 
mony or  is  altogether  consistent;  so  in  drawing,  as  there  are 
lines,  spaces,  spots,  tones  and  colors  in  drawing,  no  drawing  is 

24 


excellent  or  worthy  except  in  the  degree  that  it  is  rhythmic,  bal- 
anced and  harmonious  in  lines,  space,  spot,  tone  and  color,  or  in 
all  the  things  that  go  to  constitute  it.  Familiarizing  the  pupil 
with  the  principles  of  design  and  their  application  to  drawing 
consists  in  exercising  the  pupil  in  making  rhythms  and  balances 
in  each  of  the  things  of  which  drawings  are  composed.  Such 
exercise  begins  with  the  declension  of  lines,  and  ends  with  the 
application  of  the  principles  of  design  to  representation,  or  the 
making  of  representations  of  things  in  lines,  spaces,  spots,  tones 
and  colors  that  are  rhythmic,  balanced  and  harmonious. 

All  lines  are  either  straight,  circular  or  spiral ;  that  is  to  say, 
some  lines  maintain  the  same  direction  in  every  part,  some  in 
their  different  parts  take  different  directions  but  still  maintain 
the  same  distance  at  every  part  from  one  fixed  point,  while  some 
in  their  different  parts  take  different  directions  and  no  two  parts 
are  the  same  distance  from  any  one  point,  and  so  there  are  three 
kinds  or  classes  of  lines.  Each  of  these  kinds  of  lines  constitutes 
a  class  and  each  class  has  as  many  declensions  as  it  has  distinctly 
different,  possible  positions.  For  example,  the  straight  line  has 
four  declensions  because  there  are  four  different  positions  possi- 
ble to  it:  vertical,  horizontal,  right  oblique  and  left  oblique; 
the  circular  line  has  eight  declensions  because  it  has  two  possi- 
ble different  positions  for  every  one  that  the  straight  line  has; 
and  the  spiral  line  has  sixteen  declensions  because  it  has  four 
possible  positions  for  every  one  of  the  straight  lines.  (Fig.  7.) 


— 

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Fig    7- 


METHOD   OF    PRACTICING   THE    DECLENSION    OF 

LINES. 

The  teacher  prepares  a  set  of  quadruled  lines  five  inches 
apart  on  the  blackboard  and  on  these  lines  draws  the  declensions 
of  either  of  the  three  kinds  of  lines  and  then  the  pupils  practice 
the  same  on  quadruled  paper. 

In  practicing  the  declension  of  spirals  a  much  better  idea  of 
them  is  obtained  by  varying  their  method  of  construction,  some- 
times making  them  of  semi-circles  of  different  radii,  and  at  other 
times  making  them  in  a  line  so  drawn  that  for  every  quarter 
revolution  it  increases  its  distance  from  the  starting  point  a  uni- 
form amount,  as  a  half  or  a  quarter  of  a  square;  or  increases  its 
distance  from  the  starting  point  a  uniformly  increasing  distance, 
as  twice  as  much  for  each  quarter  turn.  (Fig.  8.) 


^ 

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^-> 

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-i 

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x 

r 

r~^ 

5 

•n 

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4 

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£ 

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-1 

Fig.  8. 


As  it  is  impossible  to  know. at  this  time  just  what  progress 
will  be  made  in  familiarizing  the  pupils  in  the  different  grades 
with  the  principles  of  design  or  how  much  condensation  will  be 
practicable,  further  assignments  and  suggestions  concerning  this 
subject  will  be  made  to  the  different  grades  in  the  succeeding 
monthly  assignments. 


MONTHLY  ASSIGNMENT  FOR  SEPTEMBER. 

First  Grade.  Study— "The  First  Step."— Millet. 

Study— "Saved."— Sterling. 

Draw  quadruled  figures  from  blackboard. 
Second  Grade.       Study — "The  Sower."— Millet. 

Study — "The  Connoisseurs." — Landsers. 

Draw  groups  of  three  objects  with  background 

screen. 


26 


Third  Grade.         Study— "A  Song    Without    Wojds."— Church 

(Drawing  Book). 

Study — "The       Piper." — Raphael      (Drawing 

Book.) 

Draw  from  prints  in  drawing  book  and  in  the 

Principal's  Office  according  to  a  given  pitch, 

paying  two  judgments  for  each  point. 

Fourth  Grade.       Study — "Feeding  the  Hens." — Millet  (Draw- 
ing Book.) 

Study — "Brown  Thrasher." — W.    H.     Gibson 

(Drawing  Book.) 

Draw  from  prints  and  objects  according  to  a 

given  pitch. 

Practice  the  execution  of  the  four  declensions 

of  straight  lines,  the  eight  declensions  of  the 

circle  and  the  sixteen  declensions  of  the  spiral. 
Fifth  Grade.  Study — "Horse  Fair." — Rosa  Bonheur(Dra\v- 

ing  Book). 

Study — "Examples    of    Composition." — Dow 

(Drawing  Book). 

Draw — See  Fourth  Grade  above. 
Sixth  Grade.         Study — "The  Acropolis." — Athens     (Drawing 

Book). 

Study — "Landscape." — Rembrandt    (Drawing 

Book). 

Draw — See  Fourth  Grade  above. 
Seventh  Grade.     Study— "St.  Marks." — Venice(Drawing  Book). 

Stud'\ — "The  Shepherdess."— Le  Rolle(Draw- 

ing  Book). 

Draw — See  Fourth  Grade  above. 
Eighth  Grade.       Study— St.    Peters.— Rome   (Drawing   Book). 

Study— "Woman  with     a    Jug."— M.  Angelo 

(Principal's  Office.) 

Draw— See  Fourth  Grade  above. 

FRANK  ABORX. 

Drawing  Master. 


27 


A    000  039  994    9 


